Swiss chemists create never get wet fabric

This site may earn affiliate commissions from the links on this page. Terms of use.

A group of scientists, lead by Stefan Seeger at the University of Zurich in Switzerland, believe they have managed to create the most waterproof material ever made. It is so waterproof that droplets of water remain as balls on the surface and will run off if the material is tilted just 2 degrees off horizontal. Water directed towards the material as a jet will also just bounce right back off again with no liquid being left behind.{ad}

The material is made from a combination of polyester fibre covered by silicone nanofilaments. It is the silicone that offers the added water protection as each filament is only 40 nanometres wide and is hydrophobic, meaning it repels water. That on its own is not enough to stop water getting through the gaps between the filaments, though. The silicone layer also traps a layer of air, however, which together with the filaments creates a totally waterproof surface.

This new material can’t currently be washed in a machine as you normally would clothes, but can withstand day-to-day wear such as rubbing up against things. The silicone filaments can also be used in conjunction with materials other than polyester, such as wool and cotton, but polyester gives the best results. An additional bonus is that the air layer means movement is better when in water.

Applications for such a material go beyond the obvious waterproof clothing. The scientists believe there are applications for swimming and self-cleaning clothing too.

Matthew’s Opinion
I don’t believe it is the same hydrophobic material, but there is an excellent slow-motion video that appeared earlier this month on YouTube entitled, “How to make water bounce“. It shows particles of water dropping and bouncing off a surface that will not let any water through and is well worth a viewing.

The creation of this new material will certainly garner a lot of interest from the clothing companies. The fact it remains completely dry, even when touched straight after being submerged in water, is very impressive. I can see one of the big sports clothing brands such as Nike, or Adidas, attempting to get their hands on it. If it makes swimming faster it will definitely make an appearance at the next Olympics if ready for use, we could even see Mr Phelps wearing it.

The idea of self cleaning clothes will make a lot of people happy. Not only would it cut down on the tedious clothes washing chores we have to do, it would also be good for the environment with all that saved washing water and cleaning chemicals.